Mom nodded. “Uh-huh. You do realize it’s just family, and that you’re not serving Christmas dinner for the President of the United States, right?”
Liz laughed and waved her hand. “Of course. It’s just that there’re so many, and I want to make sure there’s enough. Anyway, here’s my list if you want to take a look and tell me if you think I’m missing anything.”
Liz worried her bottom lip while Gavin’s mom perused the list. When she looked up, Liz noted the look of concern on her face.
“Oh, crap. I’ve forgotten something, haven’t I?”
“Yes. You’ve forgotten we’re just the Rileys. We’re very simple. Have you ever seen me serve anything like what’s on this menu?”
“Well . . . no. But I thought I’d fancy it up a little.”
“And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you don’t have a complete meltdown trying to do that. You know, once the family started to expand, I decided that holidays would be more like potluck, with everyone bringing a side dish. And I also enlisted help. Cara came over and started helping out with cooking the main dishes.”
“Right. But I thought—”
“That you could manage doing it all yourself.”
“Yes.”
Kathleen took a seat at the island. “And how’s that working out for you?”
Liz exhaled and leaned against the counter. “I feel like I’m about to drop. I’m so tired, Mom.”
“So why are you doing all this?”
“I don’t know. Because it’s my first time, and I want everyone to be happy.”
Her mother-in-law laughed. “Honey, no matter what you feed everyone, they’ll be happy. It’s Christmas, and we’re all delighted to spend the day together with those we love. You could serve turkey sandwiches and chips and we’d be content.”
“I don’t know about that, but maybe I have been overdoing it . . . a little.”
Kathleen perused the epic disaster that was Liz’s countertops and cocked her head to the side. “A little?”
“Okay . . . a lot. Gavin called you and said I was making him crazy, didn’t he?”
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds you might be angry with him.”
Liz laughed. “I couldn’t possibly be angry with him, since I’m so happy you’re here.”
“I’ve been offering to help you for weeks now, and you kept saying no.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. I wanted to be the perfect daughter-in-law and do it all by myself.”
Kathleen slid off the bar stool, came around the island, and pulled Liz into her arms. “You’ve always been the perfect daughter-in-law. You love my son and he loves you. It’s all I will ever ask for.”
Liz batted back tears. “I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too.”
Liz took a look at her menu, then at her mother-in-law. “Okay, so help me out here and tell me how I can scale some of this back so I’m not hiding in a corner by tomorrow.”
By early evening, Gavin’s mom had left and he’d helped Liz finish up the last of the prep for tomorrow’s meal. Then he’d done all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. After that he’d gone out and picked up a pizza, because the last thing his wife needed was to cook dinner tonight or have anything else in the kitchen to have to clean up.
They had curled up in front of the television to watch a holiday movie. Liz was lying on the couch, her head in his lap. After the movie finished, she flipped over to look up at him.
“Have I mentioned today that you’re my hero?”
“Uh, no, you haven’t. What brought this on?”
“You got me a pizza. If I never see the kitchen again, it’ll be too soon.”
He rubbed his hand along her hip. “I told you I’d help you cook everything. You know I don’t mind being in the kitchen, and I like to cook.”
“I know you do, but this is my thing, and I volunteered to do it, so I’m going to suck it up and do it by myself.”
“But you’re not by yourself anymore. You have a partner to help. So you should let me be there for you. I can toss a turkey in the oven and peel and mash potatoes and do anything else you need me to do.”
She finally nodded. “You’re right. I guess I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, and I need some help.”
“I’ll be happy to be your bitch tomorrow.”
She laughed. “I’m going to remember you said that.”
They started another movie, and Gavin continued to move his hand along Liz’s hip. She kneaded his leg, which made his dick hard. Hell, anytime she touched him, he got hard.
“Your erection is poking my head,” she said, not turning away from the TV.
“Is it bothering you?”
“Immensely.”
“I guess you could do something about that.”
“I could, couldn’t I?” She shifted, using her hand to lazily rub his shaft through his jeans.
Gavin spread his legs, in no hurry to get to the action. He enjoyed watching Liz touch him, even if it was through denim. He couldn’t concentrate on the movie, though, because her head in his lap gave him definite ideas.
“If you unzipped me, you could put your mouth on me.”
She didn’t answer. In fact, she’d stopped touching him, too.
“Okay, how about if I do you first.”
No reply.
“Liz?”
Her breaths had become deep and even, and when he leaned forward he realized she’d fallen asleep.
He smiled and shook his head. His poor, exhausted wife had finally given in and passed out.
He threaded his fingers through her hair. He’d always loved her hair. That beautiful natural red hair of hers had always been a turn on for him, even when he’d been her client and she’d been his agent. She’d been a brilliant smart-ass with great legs and he’d admired the hell out her, both for her talent and intelligence as well as her beauty.
They’d had one hell of a wild ride getting together. She’d pissed him off and challenged the hell out of him, doing everything in her power to drive him away. But he’d wanted her, and he’d been damned determined to have her.
Now he couldn’t imagine a day of his life without her by his side. She was his rock of fortitude when things got rough for him, could always be counted on to calm the raging waters of his life.
He loved her like he never thought he could love a woman.
She sighed and curled her body up tighter, like she was cold. He dragged the blanket off the back of the sofa and covered her.
And while she might project a tough exterior, there was a vulnerability to her that never failed to bring out his protective instincts. He’d do anything to give her everything she wanted, including the baby she was convinced he wanted, when he knew damn well she was the one who wanted one with every part of her body.
He looked down at her and brushed a curl behind her ear. She looked pale, and he wondered if she was still secretly fighting that flu bug. Or maybe she was just tired.
She’d been working way too hard lately. And even though it wasn’t even ten o’clock yet, there was no way in hell he was going to wake her. He settled in against the sofa and decided he’d finish watching the movie, and then he’d carry his wife up to bed.
She needed the rest, because tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Chapter Eleven
Something hard poked against Liz’s butt. She blinked her eyes open, smiling as she recognized immediately what it was.
She vaguely remembered Gavin waking her up last night as he carried her to bed. She had practically sleep-walked through brushing her teeth and taking off her clothes before falling into bed and right back to sleep.
She did, however, remember that before she’d utterly passed out, she’d been rubbing his cock, making promises that her worn-out body had obviously been unable to keep.